Nan Gatsu?
by Stalker of Stories
Summary: Slash, DouWata. A twelve-part story, one chapter per month. Shiwasu: Doumeki is having a lonely new year, and the prospects for the year ahead are bleak. Until Watanuki trips anyway. Probably abandoned.
1. Shiwasu: Priest's Run

Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Shiwasu: Priest's Run

It was a new year; another year, not that it felt much like it. Doumeki Shizuka liked to be a bit optimistic about the New Year, especially since he lived in a temple and therefore got to see all the happy people in their winter coats who wanted to pay their respects, but for some reason it just didn't seem... _special_ this year. Not really.

To be fair, Doumeki tended to have a better time in the traditional New Year rather than the Western one that began. The weeks between those dates were hectic and generally not very fun for the archer, as the temple was busy cleaning up from the Western New Year and setting up for the Chinese New Year. He had very little free time then to help the shrine priestesses get ready for the events.

Still, he bowed respectfully to those who were making their donations to the temple and swept the courtyard just to keep himself busy. It was already running late in the day, and people were more inclined to visit proper festivals or parties rather than stick around at the temple.

New Year was a family event, Doumeki knew. People came with their children and siblings and closest friends to the shrine for all the first three days of January, always had and likely would for years to come. His grandfather, Doumeki Haruka, had always been adamant that the family was together the whole day, even if it was only to help those who came to the temple that day; then he had died. Sure, the family was highly traditional and still treated the year as they ought to; it was separate from the year previous, and they tied up all loose ends. His mother even made soba.

Until today. Doumeki wasn't sure what made the change. Perhaps it was the fact that the family had been drifting apart. Since he had entered high school, his mother continually spoke of returning to college, and had started taking classes the previous April. His father was still the head priest of the temple. And Doumeki himself... well, hardly a week into high school and he had been attacked by Watanuki Kimihiro. A month later he found himself spending less time with his parents and more with his loud year mate.

It was a combination of things, he supposed. His father had made no mention of holding Doumeki to his usual obligation of helping around the temple, and his mother was attending a bonenkai (1) hosted by one of her professors. Doumeki was quite simply lost as to what he could or even should do.

Judging by this first day, Doumeki wasn't looking forward to the rest of the year. His parents were distant, he had to sweep the courtyard – despite the fact that no work was supposed to be done on the most auspicious day of the year – and it generally wasn't the best day in his relatively short existence. Compared to his grandfather who had died at a ripe old age, sixteen was hardly an age to be worried about.

Being lonely though... well, he supposed that, outside of Watanuki's company, it wasn't that bad. _I'm used to being lonely_, he mused. _It's the only thing I can rely on these days. Since grandfather died._

His train of morose and highly inauspicious thoughts was broken when a figure tripped in front of him. The other boy – for the person was most certainly male – was easily caught and set on his feet before Doumeki's mind had quite caught up with his action. Well, saving Watanuki from smacking his face into stone tile was obviously a sign that he would be saving his friend (not that Watanuki would admit it, though Doumeki figured they _had_ to be friends by now) just as much, if not more, than he had since they met.

"Gah! Why are you touching me?!" Watanuki flailed an arm in protest to being manhandled – Doumeki figured that was how the slightly-shorter boy would see it since he tended to dramatize things – though the other remained stationary. Curious, Doumeki looked and saw that there was a box wrapped in a cloth... but Watanuki only made him food for school lunches usually. Obviously, that couldn't be the case. Seeming oblivious to Doumeki's perusal of his person, Watanuki was ranting about perverts for some reason.

"Happy New Year," Doumeki wished him mid-rant. Watanuki was probably only there because it was the closest shrine to his home anyway.

Grumbling, Watanuki replied, "Doesn't seem like it. Yuuko made me bring you this." The box was shoved into Doumeki's arms before he could react at all, and the other boy left swiftly.

Doumeki entered his house and was only half surprised to find soba in the box. Soba from scratch no less. And the bento box wasn't one of the ones that was kept at Yuuko's house for Watanuki's use either.

Muttering "Itadakimasu" under his breath, Doumeki dug in to the traditional – not to mention delicious – meal with gusto.

Perhaps this year wouldn't be so bad.

**Author's Note: Shiwasu (priest's run) is pretty much January  
**

**The prompts for this chapter were "January" "new" and "I'm used to being lonely. It's the only thing I can rely on these days." Sorry it's almost a week after January, but whatever.**

**May have chapter 2 up in time for V-day, may not. To be fair, I already wrote an xxxHOLiC V-day and White Day fic back in December and January, so I owe you lot nothing... might do something for Harry Potter though. We'll see.**

(1) A "year forgetting party" is held to help leave behind the previous year's troubles and worries.


	2. Mutsuki: Affection

Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Mutsuki: Affection

Doumeki did his best not to sigh as yet another girl presented him with yet another box of homemade chocolates. He had a bag of them already, and he suspected he would need another by the day's end. Hopefully, this Valentine's Day would be as disastrous as the last, but... well, he wouldn't bet on it. Having his soul stolen so a spirit could give Watanuki a gift was not something he wanted to go through again.

This box, he noted, had some cheesy line written on the front. "I don't want to be your whole life – just your favorite part." Well, he could agree to the first part, but he didn't even know this girl. Still, he kept his face straight. (1)

He bid the girl a happy Valentine's Day – she blushed a brilliant shade of red – before heading to the hill where he usually ate lunch with Watanuki and Kunogi. He had requested takoyaki, but he doubted if Watanuki had actually made any.

A large bento was thrust his way as usual, Watanuki's face in an annoyed scowl, also as usual. Though he looked more sour than usual; probably because this was the second Valentine's Day running that Kunogi hadn't come, and whatever chocolate treat he had made for the girl would be left uneaten. Doumeki would eat it if Watanuki let him, but the tupperware was probably locked up tighter than Fort Knox after last year, so the chances of that were slim.

Settling down with his lunch, Doumeki noted the usual flair that was always in Watanuki's food. Just a bit saltier than the recipe called for, the rice just a bit sticker, and, though there was no takoyaki, it was all delicious. Just like any meal Watanuki made, there was nothing really wrong with it, aside from the cabbage. He didn't like cabbage, but since Watanuki made it, he ate it anyway.

He noticed suddenly that Watanuki was glaring in his direction, a bit to the right... at the chocolates.

"Did you want some?" Doumeki asked calmly, biting into one of the few remaining onigiri in his bento. He expected Watanuki to flail or something, since he was generally quite violent in his denial of just about anything really.

"No; after having Home Economics with them, I wouldn't trust the cooking of half the girls in this school anyway," Watanuki wrinkled his nose, still glaring at the bag.

Doumeki nodded his assent. "Me either." The fact that they were agreeing on something – or, rather, that Watanuki was allowing himself to agree with Doumeki, since he wasn't vehemently denying his own comment – was very rare indeed.

They didn't speak anymore, both eating their lunch, the occasional disdainful glance being sent at the chocolate bag and the few girls who came to add to it. When the warning bell rang, they both got up, and they even said good-bye to each other.

Doumeki was still wondering at the strangeness of it when he got to his classroom where several new packages of chocolate awaited him. One in particular caught his eye; the butterfly wrapping was a bit obvious.

"_Happy Valentine's Day, Doumeki-kun! I hope you enjoy the chocolates Watanuki made!_

_- Yuuko"_

Well, at least _one_ package of chocolates would be eaten today.

**Author's Note: 'tis no longer than it needs to be. I honestly have very little idea of where I'm going with this... it might end up not even really being romance. Dunno.**

(1) Added after I realized I forgot to add the quote for this chapter... ehheh...


	3. Kisaragi: Change

Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Kisaragi: Change

Why Doumeki was helping to cart things around for Yuuko, he couldn't precisely say. An hour ago he had been listening to Watanuki grouse about the Spring Cleaning that he was going to be starting that day – despite cleaning out Yuuko's house all the time, it all suddenly came to a head in March – and wondering if he could get away with asking for something with strawberries in it for lunch that day despite them not being in season...

And now he was helping Watanuki empty out Yuuko's storage shed. There was a lot of stuff in that place. Rugs, clothes, boxes of stuffed toys... if he didn't know Yuuko's line of work, he might have wondered why she had all this stuff. Alright, he still _did_ wonder why she had a giant tattoo (1) in there (and not even attached to skin), but that was entirely beside his point. Perhaps Watanuki was rubbing off on him for his mind to go on tangents like that...

He grunted lightly as he picked up another box – this one suspiciously full of pointy objects – and took great care to not trip over some clothes that Watanuki had carelessly dropped on his way out. He'd be back to pick them up of course, but Doumeki would rather not trip while carrying a box full of swords.

"Good work Doumeki!" The black Mokona cheered from the porch where it was drinking sake and eating onigiri with Yuuko. Doumeki only made a noncommittal humming noise and swiped at a bit of sweat that was trickling down his neck. Did Watanuki have to do this on the first hot day of the year? He'd only been at it for twenty minutes, and already he wanted to join Yuuko on the porch.

_I could,_ he thought to himself, _I don't work for Yuuko-san, but..._ but he didn't really mind helping Watanuki all that much, and it could be a lot worse. He tossed his school jacket off to the side and continued working.

Ten minutes later he got rid of his shirt as well. If he were like Watanuki, he'd probably be cursing Yuuko for making it hot or something, but Doumeki just took it as it was; the weather being weather, and Yuuko had nothing to do with it... probably. She might, but it was kind of doubtful.

"Doumeki, Watanuki, there's a box you'll have to carry together that's in the far left corner," Yuuko called over. "And be extra careful. There's some valuable stuff in there." She didn't actually seem to care much.

They picked up the box in the far corner – the shed, by all rights, should not be that large, but it was Yuuko's after all – and Doumeki couldn't help but notice that Watanuki was somehow managing to studiously ignore and glare at him simultaneously; it was kind of an impressive skill when Doumeki noticed it.

"Why the hell are you half-naked?" Watanuki asked as they settled the box at a comfortable height. It extended Doumeki's arms a bit further than he might have liked, but tolerable.

Doumeki didn't care to even _try_ keeping the deadpan expression from his face. "It's hot out, idiot," he responded.

Watanuki returned to glaring and studiously ignoring.

They started their march toward the door; Doumeki was kind enough to be the one to walk backwards, since he knew Watanuki hated not being able to see where he was going. Generally, Doumeki had a good idea of where tings were behind him, and a few times Watanuki adjusted his grip on the box as a signal for Doumeki to step around something. It wasn't a fool-proof system, but it worked.

Until they got to the door that is.

Doumeki's shoulder caught the doorway and the box was jostled. He tried to keep his grip on the cardboard corners, but it didn't do much good when Watanuki's end fell. There was a noise akin to shattering glass, and the box was suddenly soaked red, like blood, only too... purple.

They were carrying a large box of wine.

Doumeki was worried about Watanuki blowing up at him, but it didn't happen. He was still glowering, though not at his so-called rival (where Watanuki had gotten _that_ idea, Doumeki could not say).

"Damn, it'll take forever to get the wine out of this shirt," Watanuki was miffed. Not angered or in a tizzy, just... miffed.

Struck by the low gradation of Watanuki's ire – who knew he _had_ gradation? - Doumeki couldn't help but apologize. "Sorry," his voice was low, and as he helped Watanuki to his feet, the shorter boy kept his eyes firmly away from Doumeki's. (2)

"I didn't say it was your fault," Watanuki grumbled. "And I guess it's okay you aren't wearing your shirt, since you wouldn't have anything else to wear home..."

Something had changed. Maybe it had to do with the spring air, but something had changed.

Now if only Doumeki knew _what_.

**Author's Note: Technically, Kisaragi is "Changing clothes" but it fit better to simplify it to Change. And yes, there is slight plot development... er, if this story has plot I mean. By the way, this chapter takes place during Spring Vacation (so you can assume anywhere between White Day and Watanuki's birthday).  
**

(1) Fai's tattoo that he gave as his price to travel dimensions with Kurogane, Syaoran, and Sakura.

(2) Need I specify _where_ he was looking?


	4. Yayoi: New Life

Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Yayoi: New Life

It had escalated, somewhat, since that first incident. Doumeki hadn't really noticed anything spectacular in March, after helping Watanuki move things; it had just been another moment. Looking back, he could see how that might no longer be true.

Since then, he had helped Watanuki with work for Yuuko five times, walking him just about everywhere – not that _that_ was unusual – and had lunches of good quality.

And, really, it was the lunches that made him notice anything was going on at all.

Watanuki, who always made cute little animals or something that was really quite girly out of Kunogi's lunch, had made him little octopus sausages. They weren't the best, certainly not as cute as the squid-like things in Kunogi's lunch, but it was an effort that he had not come to expect from Watanuki. The taste was always top notch, and things always looked just so, but Watanuki didn't go out of his way to make _cute_ food for Doumeki.

So when he saw the little octopuses that weren't quite right sitting in his lunch, Doumeki blinked. Had he been given the wrong lunch? But no, Kunogi had her over-the-top food and Watanuki's was normal.

So Doumeki blinked again, trying to convince himself that it wasn't so.

"Don't think I did it for you," Watanuki snapped after his regular session of fawning over Kunogi. "I started making them for Himawari-chan and messed up. Food shouldn't be wasted. You should be worshipping the ground I sit on!"

That statement, more than anything, nailed it into Doumeki's head that Watanuki _had_ done it on purpose. Because whenever he said something like that – such as in the case of the hand-knit moss green gloves – it meant that Watanuki _had_ done it of his own free will and intentionally for Doumeki. It was one of the many peculiarities of his friend that Doumeki had come to understand intimately.

And he had no idea why any such effort should be made to give him cute food that day.

When it happened again the next day, Doumeki was even more confused, but ate the bunny-shaped onigiri in his customary silence.

After a full week of such treatment – even if the treats were never _quite_ as cute as Himawari's – Doumeki tried to think of why Watanuki would do so at all. It couldn't be the cookbook that Doumeki had given him for his birthday. He recalled that Watanuki had become highly adept at ignoring him and glaring all at once, and he always took special care to keep his eyes on Doumeki's face whenever he absolutely _had_ to look at him.

Doumeki had his suspicions, but he wouldn't be voicing them anytime soon.

The weekend heralded Yuuko calling Doumeki in to help Watanuki with an assignment, though the bunny suit that she tossed at them when she kicked them out of the door was confounding to say the least.

After a moment, Doumeki held up the pink thing before frowning. "It's too small for me; you'll have to wear it," he declared after another moment.

Watanuki, meanwhile, scowled. "Yes, I'm short. Why don't you tell me something I _don't_ know?"

"You have a crush on me." And with that parting shot, Doumeki left the room for Watanuki to change. The April Fool didn't deny it, and when he exited the room he had changed in, he said nothing and ignored Doumeki completely.

**Author's Note: Sorry it's late! I totally forgot about this until... well, yesterday (May 1). I feel like such a doof :(**


	5. Uzuki: Flower

Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless, really really short

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Uzuki: Flower

Watanuki did not talk to Doumeki. He did not look at Doumeki, he did not give Doumeki the time of day.

Watanuki would say there was no difference between this and his usually attitude toward Doumeki. It was exactly how he had treated Doumeki all through April too. Really.

But Doumeki looked at his substandard lunch and knew completely otherwise. He didn't complain though, as it was... well, it wasn't his fault. Watanuki had asked and Doumeki had told him. There was no blame to be put on the archer for the incident.

Watanuki disagreed obviously, but he wouldn't talk to Doumeki in the few instances that they were near each other, which was only during lunch and while walking to and from school.

And so it was that Doumeki was getting less social interaction that usual because he had discovered and divulged that his friend (because they were friends, no matter Watanuki's protests) had a crush on him. Doumeki didn't mind it in the least bit, but the revelation obviously didn't sit well with Watanuki, which led to Doumeki spending most of his time mostly alone at his shrine with nothing to do but sweep and think.

It was funny how sweeping made him realize something about himself.

He didn't really care much about girls. They were aesthetically pleasing, sure, but... well, he found Watanuki infinitely more interesting than Kunogi.

Maybe, just maybe, he had a crush on Watanuki as well.

Doumeki's brow furrowed. He had nothing against being gay, but his parents might not like the idea. He didn't know; it wasn't something that had come up in conversation. It occurred to him that, as of the past year or so, his family hadn't been much of one.

He continued sweeping, physically and metaphorically, and put those thoughts elsewhere for later.

**Author's Note: Sorry this one is so obscenely short (and late), but that's just how it has to be because everything that was in it... that was the point of it. That's why I didn't get to it for ages; there was so little to write in this chapter that I just didn't want to... that and I kinda forgot about this story -_-" I'll have the June installation out later this week though, I promise. (Summer vacation starts noon on Tuesday – WooT!)**

**Couldn't really figure out any way to use the quote ("And so begins my life as a nun") because it simply wouldn't make sense.**


	6. Satsuki: Fast

Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless, short

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Satsuki: Fast

Doumeki hadn't done anything about his little revelation back in May. Not only was he aware that it would make Watanuki freak out more than usual and probably never talk to him again (which might save his cochlea some damage in the future), but there had been no opportunity to do so.

Mostly because, just as quickly as Doumeki realized that he could, potentially, reciprocate Watanuki's affections, Watanuki was talking to him again. The base volume had risen from normal talking level to just-below-shouting, and his angry rants were violent enough in elocution that Doumeki couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Even his usual attention getter – the intentionally irksome "Oi" – couldn't pierce the veil of pure sound that radiated from Watanuki whenever Doumeki dared get within hearing distance.

"And then Yuuko made me dust the entire shop!" Watanuki grumbled; at the new volume settings, a grumble was more like a five on a scale of ten rather than the previous two or three, and a shout had escalated from an eight to ten.

"Not that she doesn't _always_," Watanuki's scowl did not lift from his face, "but you'd think that magic magnetically attracted dust or something for how often I have to dust that place! I don't dust my apartment half as often!"

Doumeki tried not to pay attention, really he did. His fingers were situated firmly in his ears to prevent the loss of too many of the little hairs that helped his brain register sound. He remembered from one of his classes that sudden sharp noises could snap them right over, and that certain levels of sound consistently would do the same. A baby's scream for two hours would render someone deaf, and he was pretty sure that being on the ground during an airplane take-off without those huge noise-canceling headphones would have the same result.

Watanuki probably registered more toward the "plane lifting off" end of that spectrum, and was therefore rather harder to ignore than he had been prior to the revealing of the crush.

"It was horrible that Himawari-chan wasn't in today!" Watanuki wailed his discontent loud enough for the whole city to hear. "I hope she isn't sick; it's monsoon season, which can't be good for her health. I'll bring some chicken soup! But what if I mess it up? No, I won't because it's for Himawari-chan. Maybe I can get Yuuko to let me off early so I can make the soup! But then Yuuko will want some. She's so greedy! And Larg will probably hound after me... Mugetsu will be on my side though, if I give him some of the chicken, and Himawari-chan likes Mugetsu.

"But what if she's insulted by the chicken because of Tanpopo? Is Tanpopo related to chicken? I mean, he's a bird, but I know parrots will eat chicken if you feed it to them and..."

It took a while for Doumeki to notice that the volume had gone down and that it _might_ be safe to unplug his ears. He did so, warily, but as there wasn't an immediate reprimand for having plugged them in the first place he felt the caution superfluous and so dropped his arms.

Unfortunately for him, it was the area in which his hand had been dropped that posed a problem. Watanuki happened to be flailing his arms nearby, and one of the limbs happened to make contact with Doumeki's falling appendage.

Predictably, Watanuki freaked out.

"What the hell is WRONG WITH YOU?!" Doumeki winced at the volume as Watanuki's vocal cords decided that ten wasn't loud enough and went all the way up to eleven. "DON'T TOUCH ME! I DON'T LIKE YOU! I HATE YOU WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING!"

After that point, Doumeki couldn't hear any more. He didn't plug his ears – that would have helped in the least – but he suddenly couldn't hear anymore of what Watanuki was saying.

Had he actually gone deaf?

But Watanuki was still red and flailing and drawing attention from the few passerbies on their route. And Doumeki had to make sure it was just a temporary deafness.

So, quickly, he thought up an excuse to dash off without Watanuki noticing. Yuuko's shop was only one block away, so Watanuki was safe...

"Hey Kunogi," Doumeki waved. Watanuki turned on his heel to face the girl-who-wasn't-actually-there, face splitting into a grin, and Doumeki ran for it.

There was a phrase Doumeki had heard once that could perfectly describe his friend... something along the lines of having a "red-headed temper and an ADD attention span". Well, whether that was right or not, it was accurate.

When Doumeki got home, he could hear a set of wind chimes on the porch and was pleased to note he could hear again.

Though if it meant hearing what Watanuki had been shouting about... he wasn't sure he wanted to.

**Author's Note: Kudos to anyone who catches the Spinal Tap reference (my dad was watching it last night... I've seen that film far too many times). Meant to get this out earlier in the week, but technically it isn't late. And I think I deserve some leeway 'cause I've been writing other stuff too... and I've been reading a lot.**

**Aaaanyway... yeah. This story is officially half complete :D The July installation will be out in – who would have thought? – July, so you'll have to wait a few weeks. **


	7. Minatsuki: Water

Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless, short

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Minatsuki: Water

"Sir?" Doumeki's eyes flicked left and he couldn't withhold his sigh. A woman was standing a bit behind him and to the left, wearing the department store uniform. From the concerned look on her face, Doumeki knew it had happened again. "You were completely spaced out sir. Do you need any assistance?"

"No, just lost in thought," the archer shook his head. This was a lie, of course; he had come to the department store to buy a new futon, and had been examining one. He had not been thinking of much other than the quality of the fabric and whether it was any firmer than his current one, and he certainly hadn't been "spaced out" like the sales assistant claimed.

He had, however, not heard a single thing she said in what he guessed was a thirty-second period of time, maybe more.

"If you say so," she bowed ever so slightly. "If you need any help, please go to the desk or find an assistant somewhere on this floor."

Doumeki hummed in a noncommittal manner, returning to his perusal of the merchandise without much enthusiasm. The entire situation, he supposed, was Watanuki's fault. And his own, of course, but it was Watanuki who brought Mugetsu with him to the shrine to pick up a book for Yuuko, and it was Mugetsu that ended up ripping several holes in Doumeki's futon to find a sock that had apparently been under it without his notice.

Unfortunately, that meant that Doumeki needed a new futon, and since his mother was busy with her final year of university and his father simply didn't have the time that day, Doumeki had been given a few large bills and instructions to pick up a futon after school. His parents thought that a dog had broken into the house and bit holes into it, which was close enough. So here he was.

However, that wasn't the only way in which Watanuki was responsible for that situation. It seemed the teen was shouting again, probably at his employer.

To most, the idea wasn't one to be associated with Doumeki's sudden deafness. To Doumeki, it wouldn't have even mattered since his friend was always yelling at _something_ (usually him), except for a certain phenomenon that had been going on for the past month or so. Whenever Watanuki shouted, Doumeki would suddenly find that his ears literally did not work, just as Watanuki always accused him.

At first, it had only happened when Doumeki was personally within hearing distance. After a week or so, the moments happened more often, so Doumeki consulted Yuuko (with a bottle of finely aged wine as payment) to see if it was perhaps some fort of spiritual event.

It was, but not in the usual sense.

It wasn't some other spirit involving itself in matters pertaining to Watanuki and Doumeki or anything; Doumeki's own soul had, apparently, decided to "protect" him. Or that's what Yuuko told him after a full explanation of what he knew was going on. Something Watanuki had said hurt him, and because of the connection to the spirit version of catnip was now able to alter itself whenever the slight flare of Watanui's spirit signaled a raised voice.

Doumeki, of course, knew exactly what had hurt him -

_I HATE YOU WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING!_

- but he didn't know how to fix the damage. The only thing that Watanuki's voice could damage was Doumeki's ears, and maybe his pride, but that was it. The archer had decided this just as he had _decided_ that wearing a girl's kimono as a child wasn't embarrassing, as he had _decided_ that he wasn't afraid of spiders, and as he had _decided_ that even if he did maybe reciprocate whatever feelings Watanuki apparently had for him that said emotions were not to be acted upon ever if he wished to keep his life.

Apparently, as convinced as Doumeki was that Watanuki could not hurt him with words, his heart or soul or whatever the hell it was disagreed.

Thus he spent about three to five percent of every day deaf.

He selected a futon and brought it to the front counter, forking over the money had been given, and left with the box hefted on his shoulder. It was seriously getting annoying, and he had even changed his habits when walking through the city since he could rely on the sound from crosswalk signs to tell him it was safe to walk in case he went deaf for a bit.

Clearing himself of pointless thoughts, Doumeki paid close attention to his surroundings and made his way home.

He was about three blocks away from his home when he noticed his hearing had shorted out again. His lips pursed momentarily, and he opted to pay extra careful attention with his eyes since Watanuki was obviously shouting again, and those outbursts could go on for a while.

It wasn't until he was suddenly seeing a double image of the street, one image being about ten meters further back and gaining, with his own back in the image, that he realized Watanuki was anywhere nearby. Doumeki turned around on the spot and hardly moved in time not to be completely bowled over by the running boy.

Of course, Watanuki was also flailing, red in the face, and judging by his flapping jaw, shouting very loudly.

"Oi," Doumeki grumbled, keeping his volume in check. He had learned that in his moments of deafness his voice would try to compensate for his lack of hearing and raise, which didn't actually help.

Watanuki shouted something - probably along the lines of "My name isn't 'Oi'!" - and quickly dashed around and then behind Doumeki, suddenly facing in the same direction as the archer.

Which, coincidentally, made it so Doumeki could see a very big, very malevolent looking spirit.

Apparently the deaf moments were more troublesome that he thought.

In an instant, Doumeki had dropped his futon box and was pulling taught on what was, essentially, an imaginary bow, even though he could see it in one eye. The arrow was notched, pulled back, and released before the ayakashi even progressed so much as a block, exploding like a firework.

There was silence, but this time it wasn't because of any hearing problems that the archer might have. He turned to his companion, who had apparently calmed down enough that he was no longer transmitting his vision, sitting on the sidewalk.

"Why didn't you turn around when I yelled at you?" Watanuki's voice was... calm. He was serious, not just freaking out, but honest-to-god angry. "You didn't so much as -" Doumeki's hearing cut out as Watanuki shouted the last word, but his meager ability to read lips gave him what he _thought_ was "twitch" though he couldn't be sure.

"I can't hear you when you shout," he stated after a moment. "It's been like that for a month, and you only just noticed? Baka."

Mismatched eyes glared up at him, but there was something else in that gaze that, just then, Doumeki didn't want to contemplate.

"Come on," he sighed and pulled Watanuki up from the ground. Unlike previous instances of contact, Watanuki was not kicking up a fuss, but rather just looked _shocked_ and followed Doumeki to his house. It seemed that he had finally said something that could silence his friend, but Doumeki was pretty sure that wasn't a good thing.

Not for the first time that year, something changed.

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long. I've been working on original stuff and some Mori/Harry, and this totally slipped my mind! O_O!**

**Once again, I just couldn't make the quote work. Sorry! But it would have been weird at this point in the story, so... yeah. "If a week goes by and your friends are not completely confused or terrified by one of your actions, you're not doing your job." It... wouldn't have made any sense to be honest, unless maybe Yuuko said it, but it still would have been weird.**


	8. Fumizuki: Books

Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless, short

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Fumizuki: Books

Doumeki Shizuka had always been quiet. As a child, he had been sickly and his voice had been naturally quiet back then; he was naturally short of breath as well, so he hadn't talked much then since he could only speak a few words at a time. His grandfather made fun of him as a child too, so he had learned to take things silently when he was embarrassed or annoyed.

Later in life, Doumeki was quiet for different reasons. He was quiet because he did not know what to say and therefore felt that nothing should be said if he couldn't think of what that ought to be. Soon, it became a way of life for him; unlike most people, if he couldn't think of what to say, he didn't say anything. He didn't fill up the air with useless noise, since everyone else did plenty of that to make up for his lack.

The most poignant example of this was, of course, Watanuki Kimihiro.

"I could swear I already read this one," whined the noisy boy in question. "Look! I _know_ I've read that sentence before!" He was not shouting, which was usually rather a rare thing, instead being emphatic without raising his voice. But he'd been at it for a while now, only yelling when he forgot himself. Doumeki's deaf-time each day was decreasing dramatically.

It made things a lot easier for Doumeki when he could hear what Watanuki felt the need to say to him, but there were things that Doumeki wished Watanuki's spirit _would_ signal him as being hostile. Well, no, he wished nothing of the sort, but he did want Watanuki to be a bit more careful with his words. Or to take up Doumeki's policy of not speaking unless there was something to actually be said.

"You put this one back in my stack, didn't you?" Watanuki scowled impetuously at Doumeki but was still scanning the pages of his book with glazed eyes.

"No," the answer was quick and quiet. No need to say more than what really needed to be said. Doumeki continued scanning through the book he had selected for the day, but there was no luck, as before.

After Watanuki found out about the weird Doumeki-can't-hear-when-he-shouts thing, and Doumeki had brought the spirit-bait back to his regular state of being, Watanuki had demanded that Doumeki start researching through his grandfather's old books to see if there wasn't information in them. After all, it stood to reason that if there was information on the spider stealing Watanuki's eye – they're not getting to partake of that information was not the point of the argument – then it should have something on the strange reactions of Doumeki's soul.

So far, nothing. A month of nothing.

"You could be more helpful," Watanuki huffed as he placed aside the book that he had supposedly already read (it was more likely that it had been copied or transcribed by the same monk as another tome) and reached for the next in his stack. "I'm taking time off work to help you, but there's nothing here! Are you sure Yuuko can't help?"

Doumeki leveled Watanuki with an annoyed look. Of course he was sure, he had checked with the witch himself. And it wasn't his fault that Watanuki was coming to the shrine with him for an hour each day before work. Really, it was detracting from Doumeki's own time to study and wasn't very helpful, but it didn't really need to be said since the company wasn't that bad and sometimes Watanuki would be frustrated with the old texts and cook something to calm down.

"Hey asshole, you could at least dignify me with a response!" Watanuki's decibel level stayed within the regular human range, but his next sentence was shouted, and Doumeki couldn't be bothered to discern what it was. His eyes drifted back to the book in his lap and he waited for hearing to return.

Watanuki's aggravated breath was harsh in the archer's ears, so he looked up. "Done?"

A tense silence followed, though not one of Doumeki's auditory functions' making.

"Yeah," Watanuki slumped and rested his chin in one palm.

"Good," was all Doumeki said, even though he wanted to say that if Watanuki wanted to help than he should help instead of yell. But of course he wasn't going to say that, because it didn't _need_ to be said. Watanuki knew that yelling wasn't helping the situation at all.

But, then, around Watanuki, Doumeki was practically chatty, so the urge wasn't _that_ strange.

Aged paper and ink absorbed the silence between them.

**Author's Note: No way, the title actually had something to do with it this time! :O Yeah. So. Sorry this is so dang late. Kinda forgot about it and got caught up in other stuff (Inspector Auror in particular, and now I'm trying not to get into an Ouran/Gakuen Alice idea 'cause I have other stuff to write ^^"). Oh well, at least you got it. I promise to have Hazuki (September) out by the end of the week (hopefully tomorrow, but my time is currently in high demand!) and Nagatsuki (October) will be out before Halloween. Promise.**

**Didn't use the quote OR the prompt this time. I don't know if I will again, to be honest. I'm kinda trying to keep the story moving in the appropriate mood.  
**


	9. Hazuki: Leaf

Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless, short

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Hazuki: Leaf

"I _am_ sorry," the way this was said made one feel as though the person speaking – a very tall, lean, beautiful woman in extravagant clothing by the name of Ichihara Yuuko – was indeed sorry, but not about the thing that they were meant to be sorry for, "but you and Watanuki scoured your entire library, didn't you? Why would _I_ have more information than your dearly departed grandfather."

"Because you're you," Doumeki responded. It was true; she was Yuuko. She had known right off the bat why Doumeki went deaf sometimes – though the archer probably would have worked it out eventually – and could probably get rid of the issue with a witch. But, then, what was the value of Doumeki's hearing? And he could live with spotty hearing if it meant not losing whatever the price of such a wish would be, most likely.

But Yuuko only smiled. "So I am," she replied, but she did not offer up a wish or to have him make one. "More sake?"

He accepted, but only because Watanuki had just entered the room with freshly heated alcohol and it would be impossible for him to pass it up with such a situation before him.

"You're both alcoholics, y'know that? One day your livers will go, and you won't be able to find a donor and you know where you'll be? Dead," Watanuki grumbled, his volume entirely socially acceptable for being indoors. The fact that he was not shouting, but talking at a normal volume while berating what he considered irresponsible behavior, like it was second nature, was still so surreal.

It was, by now, the start of September, and Watanuki had completely turned his speech habits around. Sure, the process had started back in July, when he realized that yelling was bad for his own health if Doumeki couldn't hear him, but towards the end of August things had made it quite apparent to him that it was not just _him_ put in danger by this.

After all, when someone almost gets run over because they can't hear the traffic, it's a definite sign of danger.

"Not to worry," Yuuko waved off Watanuki's concern. "Now _gimme_!" She grabbed her cup from Watanuki and knocked it back with ease, grinning in a cat-like way and, Doumeki could swear, _purring_ as it went down.

Doumeki only sipped at his saucer, and did not offer Watanuki any sort of recognition for bringing the drinks, no matter how grateful he really was. Things had been complicated after all. Back in Spring, he was so sure Watanuki had a crush on him, and then suddenly everything went weirder than usual and Doumeki didn't even really contemplate it anymore because when he thought of what Watanuki felt toward him he kept getting slammed in the face with the exclamation that had started the whole "deaf" thing in the first place.

After over a month of Watanuki spending an hour with him daily to go through the old books, Doumeki was pretty sure that he really did have some sort of romantic emotion-like _thing_ directed at Watanuki. But he'd never been a master at what his own emotions really meant, and the tightening in his chest when he thought about what Watanuki had shouted at him was simply a phantom pain from straining himself from almost being hit by a car.

The excuse was weak even in his head.

"You boys should head off now; you have school tomorrow, after all," Yuuko smirked at them. Maybe it was her own way of saying that Doumeki shouldn't stay long enough to end up with a hangover in the morning. More likely it was her way of keeping the sake all to herself, even though Doumeki was the one who brought it in the first place.

The living spirit-repellent stood from the ground anyway, setting his empty cup on the low table before him.

Watanuki was waiting by the door, already ready to head out by the time that Doumeki had switched back to his street shoes. Something made him turn back when they reached the gate, to look back at the shop's door where he saw Yuuko framed in light.

"It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything."

With Yuuko's ominous words ringing in his ears, Doumeki proceeded to walk Watanuki home for the evening, no closer to fixing his hearing problem, but still ever so grateful that it hadn't gotten any worse either.

**Author's Note: Yo! Um... yeah, couldn't even keep my promise to get this out a few days ago. Oh well, it's out now XP I blame restaurant City on facebook (I started playing on Friday... let's just say that it's really addictive and I'm currently rated as the seventh on my "street" (will be 6th in about an hour), which includes several people over lv 20. So you can tell how addicted I am).**

**The October chapter WILL be out on time, hopefully it will show the START of the end of the story (ending in two months. Yay). Not sure. And I actually used the prompts this time! No way!**


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